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Simmering Clash of the Titans Obtaining situation in Ukraine Part – 2 by Brig.Gen (Retd) Asif Haroon Raja

Simmering Clash of the Titans

Obtaining situation in Ukraine

Part – 2

Asif Haroon Raja

“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” – Frederick Douglass

Obtaining Situation in Ukraine

Biden has announced a $ I billion military aid package and decided to send long range anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine. NATO has increased its forces on the eastern flank of Russia in the Baltic States, but has no plans to send troops into Ukraine. Physical clashes and battle of minds are raging and both sides are slapping sanctions. Much against the expectations of Putin of a short and swift outcome, the war is dragging on and President Zelensky is not giving up. Moscow-Kiev parleys are going on, but Zelensky has not agreed to the Russian demand of making Ukraine a neutral country. He is egging on the US and NATO to send forces and is equating the situation to Pearl Harbor.     

Third World Wooed

The USA and Russia are trying to win over as many countries of the third world to their side to swing the diplomatic balance on their side.

Russia and China stand on a higher moral ground to win the support of the countries of Asia, Middle East and Africa since they were not harmed by the two. China in particular has been helping the debt ridden and low income countries by providing easy loans for social programs, developing infrastructure and improving their economies.

Russia helped Iran in its missile/ nuclear programs and in easing sanctions, and had a key role in saving the Assad regime in Syria.

Both Russia and China are against the fascist and racist policies of the US and Israel, apartheid, the capitalist system and the monopoly of petrodollars.

On the other hand, prejudice, malice and discrimination against the non-whites have been the guiding principles of the western world. The only exception is India, or their close allies like Japan and South Korea. Putin has called the west an empire of lies.

Today the West has no reason and justification to cry foul and dub Russia as a war monger and an aggressor since Russia didn’t for once step into the backyard of USA, nor meddled into the internal affairs of other countries, or brought about regime changes through proxy wars and clandestine operations, or imposed sanctions on any country.

USA’s Policy of Sanctions

“Remember when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received, only what you have given, a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.” – St. Francis of Assisi

To compel Russia to pull out its troops, the US and EU took no time to impose a series of tough sanctions on Russia, and have closed airspaces for the Russian air movement. Anything Russian has been boycotted. The US has told Europe not to buy oil and gas from Russia. Russia’s $ 300 billion have been frozen. Purpose is to isolate Russia, crash its economy and bleed it to death through sanctions. Fifth columnists in Russia have been activated by the CIA to create trouble. Consequently, Russia has become the most sanctioned country after Iran.

Bugles of Pax-Americana sounded by George Bush after 9/11 have now been blown by Joe Biden. He has made it clear to the allies to submit to the US dictates or get perished. Neutrality is not an exercisable option.         

Moscow-China’s Foreplaning

Russia is not wilting since in collusion with its strategic partner China, it had foreplaned how to deal with the hardships of sanctions.

Russia has amassed some $600 billion, yuan and gold in reserves, stored huge stacks of grain and other commodity items, and reduced its trade in dollars by 50%. Russia has replaced visa and master cards with Chinese cards.

China and Russia are trying to build an alternative monetary system in order to overcome the dilemma of sanctions imposed on Russian banks.

China’s central bank operationalized its digital yuan CBCD in 2015 to break the monopoly of petrodollars in trade of oil and gas through US controlled SWIFT. China’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS) is equivalent to the SWIFT financial transfer system developed in 2014. SPFS is likely to be integrated with China based Cross Border InterBank Payment System (CIPS).

 

 

 

The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and China have agreed to design the mechanism for an independent international monetary system. China’s forex reserves are $3222.4.

Gas supply to Germany from Gazprom has been cut off by Russia.

In case Russia and China succeed in importing and exporting oil and gas in ruble, yuan and gold, it will cause a deadly blow to the power of the dollar.

Sanctions are painful but have never been productive. They proved ineffective against Cuba, Iran, Pakistan, North Korea and Venezuela and wouldn’t bend Putin.

USA’s Relations with Arabs & Iran

Some cracks have appeared in the US relations with Saudi Arabia and UAE. The two princes didn’t answer the phone calls made by Biden and have declined the US desire to increase production of oil so as to lower oil prices in the international market that have touched $ 140 a barrel. They are going by the policy of OPEC in which Russia is a key member. Saudis and UAE, the two largest oil producing countries are considering trading oil in yuan. Boris Johnson air dashed to Riyadh on 16 March on a one-day visit to convince MBS to enhance the oil production but couldn’t get a commitment. UAE, which has put the F-35 jets deal on hold has been put in the grey list by the FATF.

Iran has made the renewal of the nuclear deal with the US subject to clearance from Moscow. Iran doesn’t want its oil and gas trade with Russia to get affected by the 2015 deal to which Russia is one of the signatory. Russia is among the largest oil producing countries and is the largest producer of gas.  

Contrasting Foreign Policies

Although Russia’s past is as sinful as of the west, with Stalin presiding over the massacre of 20 million people in the 1930s, however, after the USSR’s dismemberment in 1991, Russia has not embarked upon any external military adventure, nor has meddled into internal affairs of other countries, or ridiculed Islam. By and large it has pursued a peaceful foreign policy.

Likewise, China also adopted a defensive policy of peace and friendship after 1978, although it is accused of persecuting the Uighur Muslims. Xingjian is being developed at a fast rate so as to curb extremism and separatist movements.   

Russia and China increased their spheres of influence in the developing world through peaceful means. Putin adopted friendly policies towards the Muslims in Russia and made Chechnya a close ally.

Conversely, the US used its military might, financial power and diplomatic clout to enlarge its presence all around the globe. War on terror was used as a ploy to rob the resources of the Muslim world and to neo colonize it.

Tools of US Blackmails Against Nations

Sanctions, embargoes, human rights, World Bank, IMF, FATF and proxy wars are other tools of coercion. The UN, ICJ and other world institutions are the US handmaidens.

Islam was ridiculed and demonized by the Western media under a calculated agenda. Caricatures of the Holy Prophet Muhammad PBUH were repeatedly published to injure the feelings of the Muslims and to undermine Islam.

The US has the biggest stockpile of nuclear missiles and well knowing that Russia has the second largest nuclear arsenal with 4497 nukes, the US has constantly been provoking Russia by militarily encircling it and breaching it’s perimeter of security.

The US administration under the hegemony of Military Industrial Complex is anti-peace and pro-war and has established over 800 military bases all over the globe. Since WW 11, the US indulged in 19 wars causing deaths to over 21 million people. It has striven to control the sea lanes in all the oceans, and Eurasia. Domination of global supply chains by the emerging superpower China is one of the major reasons for the US antagonism against China.

The US is a Bully

The US has never directly locked horns with a big power and always chose a weak country to fight and yet never won. The two glaring examples are its humiliating defeats in Vietnam and Afghanistan.

The US has behaved like a bully. It has warned China to stay out of the conflict and not to provide a lifeline to Russia. The US has also made it clear to its allies to cut off relations with Russia.

For the first time the US is provoking the two titans, Russia in Ukraine, and China in South & East China Sea and Taiwan Strait.

Biden declared that the US will defend every inch of NATO territory with full might of a united and galvanized NATO, but will not fight war against Russia since he cannot risk a 3rd WW.

The US-Russia showdown has commenced and the US-China showdown is in the making. Both Pakistan and India will get sucked into the fight of the big elephants.    

NATO’s Prestige Smeared

Although the Ukraine crisis has given a new lease of life to the west and has helped in uniting the divided EU and NATO, and both the US and EU are taking punitive steps to pressurize Russia to step back, they have yet to prove whether they can stand up to the challenge and turn the tide.

Russia has exposed the impotence of NATO which has already tarnished its reputation in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Paranoia in India

India has got hedged between the USA, Russia and China and is finding itself caught between the devil and deep sea. On one side is Russia with which it has had a strategic relationship since the late 1940s. 60-65% of India’s defence equipment is Russian origin and Russia never blackmailed India.

On the other side is the glowering USA to which it had got married in 1990 out of expediency and has been drawing huge economic and military benefits and has been helping it to become a global power. China is closely aligned with Russia and nuclear Pakistan is breathing over its neck in the Himalayas.

Today the US is demanding that India should pay back by severing ties with Russia and also become an effective member of QUAD to counter China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. For India, joining China-specific QUAD is getting highly risky. 

Coming weeks will see whether India bends down to the dictates of the US, or makes another volte face, quits QUAD and reverts to nonalignment and extends a hand of friendship to China and Pakistan.

Reinvigoration of Cold War

The Cold War has reemerged with a big bang and the two belligerent camps are forming up. President Erdogan is eagerly awaiting the revival of the caliphate in 2023 that was terminated in 1924 by the European powers. War mongers and spoilers are pitched against peacemakers. The Ukraine crisis, if not defused, could lead to the worst global economic crisis which will have a catastrophic impact upon the unprivileged classes.  

With so many flash points, and the climate crisis due to global warming morphing into an existential threat to humanity, the world has become a powder keg and needs a matchstick in the wrong hands to ignite. Standoff in Ukraine has revived fears of a nuclear clash and possibly a third world war.

Ground Realities

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

The realities that cannot be ignored are that dwarfed Russia has bounced back on the global central stage, China is the emerging superpower and the US is a declining power, and its global hegemony is unsustainable.

Unipolarism has been replaced by multipolarism.

The Zionists and extremist Jews wishing to rule the world, after pitching Christianity against Islam have now pitched USA against Russia, and will soon pitch USA against China. Depopulation of the world is also the Zionist game.  

Democracy has waned and Far Right and Far Left have become stronger.

Arms industries of the big powers are contracting huge defence deals with the needy weaker countries, which is adding to the suffering of the deprived classes.

Wars, conflicts, civil strife, intrigues, deceit and lies have become a norm.

Piety, tolerance and forbearance have been replaced by immorality, intolerance and egotism. The world as a whole has become turbulent and insecure.   

May Allah guide the megalomaniac powers to follow the path of righteousness, tolerance and co-existence!  

Concluded

The writer is retired Brig Gen, war veteran, defence & security analyst, international columnist, author of five books, and 6th book under publication, takes part in TV talk shows and delivers talks on current issues. [email protected]  

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Good Riddance. Sheldon Adelson Dead at 87 By Moon Of Alabama

Good Riddance. Sheldon Adelson Dead at 87

By Moon Of Alabama

January 14, 2021

Sheldon Adelson, the casino oligarch who has financed far right causes as well as the political careers of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahoo, has died. In 2013 Adelson had called for nuking Tehran (vid).

Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson dies

The casino magnate donated massive sums to Republican candidates and various causes.

Good Riddance.

Unfortunately his money will continue to flow to the far right as his Israeli wife is the one who is now running the show.

In other news B’Tselem, the topmost Israeli human rights organization, finally describes both Israel and its control of the Palestinian territories as a single apartheid regime:

B’Tselem rejects the perception of Israel as a democracy (inside the Green Line) that simultaneously upholds a temporary military occupation (beyond it). B’Tselem reached the conclusion that the bar for defining the Israeli regime as an apartheid regime has been met after considering the accumulation of policies and laws that Israel devised to entrench its control over Palestinians.

Nothing really new there but it makes it official. 
With B’Tselem finally speaking out it is much easier to refute those who falsely denounce the much justified condemnation of Zionism and Israel as anti-semitic.
This comes at a time when Israel is scheming to derail the incoming Biden administration’s plan to return to the nuclear deal with Iran:

Israel Wants to Derail Biden’s Plan to Rejoin Iran Nuclear Deal

David Wainer,Ivan Levingston

Israel is already plotting how to derail one of Joe Biden’s signature foreign-policy promises.

Israel will start by sending a stream of envoys on visits to Washington, the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss private deliberations. It’s stated publicly that it doesn’t want the U.S. to abandon sanctions on the Islamic Republic without a new deal, and that a tougher stance should be taken toward its nuclear project, ballistic missile program and regional proxy forces.That strategy runs against the Biden team’s willingness to re-enter the deal, then negotiate an expansion of its terms. It’s conditioned on Iran’s returning to compliance with the accord, whose limits it breached after President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the agreement in 2018.

Israel also has a higher-risk card up its sleeve: the potential to upend diplomatic efforts through covert operations against Iran.

Netanyahu has been open about his intention to thwart renewed U.S. participation. In a rare public split, he rebuked his envoy to Germany for supporting Berlin’s push to expand the deal.

“There should be no return to the Iran nuclear agreement of 2015 — a deal which is flawed to its foundations,” Netanyahu said.

With Biden being an arch-Zionist and with a team of Zionist Jews leading the State Department the chances of a fast return to the deal can be regarded as slim.

Reference

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Dual Policy towards Al-Qaeda and ISIS is Extremely Counterproductive By Sajjad Shaukat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Dual Policy towards Al-Qaeda and ISIS is Extremely Counterproductive

 

By Sajjad Shaukat

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Everyone knows that Al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban were created by the American CIA to fight
 
against the former Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
 
In this regard, former British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook stated, “Throughout the 1980s, he
 
[Bin Laden] was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian
 
occupation of Afghanistan.”
 
As regards terrorism, Machiavelli advises the rulers to have a lion-like image outwardly, and act
 
upon the traits of goat inwardly. He also suggests them foreign adventures and the use of terror
 
to obtain their goals. In his sense, a good ruler should be a good opportunist and hypocrite. While
 
echoing Machiavelli, Morgenthau points out that sometimes, rulers act upon immoral activities
 
like deceit, fraud, falsehood and even murder to fulfill their selfish aims.
 
Indicating dual policy, Morgenthau, and Palmer and Perkins opine, “Just as power became the
 
instrument of ambitious nationalism and state’s leaders, it has now become the tool of ideologies.
 
The true nature of the policy is concealed by ideological justifications and rationalization.”
 
Although in the present world of social media and Internet, such a sinister politics has been
 
replaced by modern trends such as fair-dealings, reconciliation and economic development, yet
 
by following the old strategies, American President Barack Obama and neoconservatives who
 
are in collusion with the Zionist Jews and Israel are still acting upon dual policy towards Al-
 
Qaeda and the Islamic State group (Daesh), also known ISIS or ISIL. Even, America’s western
 
allies are also pursuing similar ambivalent strategy.
 
Everyone knows that Al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban were created by the American CIA to fight
 
against the former Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
 
In this regard, former British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook stated, “Throughout the 1980s, he
 
[Bin Laden] was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian
 
occupation of Afghanistan.”
 
After fulfilling their interests, Washington had left Afghanistan and Pakistan to face the fallout
 
of a prolonged conflict—terrorism and instability. These Mujahideen who pulled the Russians
 
out of Afghanistan, later become the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, etc. They got
 
the label of terrorists.
 
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, American former President Bush (The Senior) in
 
connivance with his Zionist-advisers took the Islamic fundamentalism as a great threat. Since
 
then, sometimes, Al-Qaeda have continuously been used by the US and some western countries
 
as a scapegoat to malign Pakistan for ‘de-nuclearisation,’ as the latter is the only nuclear country
 
in the Muslim World. Sometimes, they accused Iran of harbouring terrorism, and to propagate
 
against Tehran’s peaceful nuclear progragmme—sometimes to achieve the goals of external
 
policy and sometimes to pacify their public including the opposition. In all cases, the purpose
 
behind has been to safeguard the interests of the Zionists and Israel.
 
On November 13, 2009, a Reuters report quoting Labeviere’s book “Corridors of Terror”
 
(Released in November 2003) points to negotiations between Bin Laden and CIA, which took
 
place two months prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks-at the American Hospital in Dubai,
 
United Arab Emirates, when Bin Laden was under a kidney dialysis treatment.
 
Meanwhile, while making Osama and Al-Qaeda as scapegoats, a number of fake video messages
 
were telecast on various TV channels and websites by some Zionists to obtain Israel’s anti-
 
Muslim goals. For example, during the November 2004 elections in the US, a fake video tape
 
helped the ex-president George W. Bush to get lead over John Kerry.
 
It is well-known that in a tape released on December 27, 2001, the authenticity of which is not in
 
question, Osama denied any involvement in the September 11 tragedy. However, later, two video
 
tapes appeared to validate his guilt in relation to 9/11, because the main aims of the Bush
 
administration were to provoke American public against the Muslims and to justify global war
 
on terror—the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq to possess energy resources of Central Asia
 
and Iraq, including proxy wars in other Middle Eastern countries. Besides other actions of Bush
 
era such as America’s state-sponsored terrorism in the volatile Islamic countries, persecution of
 
Muslims through torture, detentions and arrests, CIA and FBI-operated facilities, promotion of
 
sectarian violence and divide between Sunnis and Shias in the Islamic World—radicalising the
 
western Christians against the Muslims, while providing a golden chance to Israel and India to
 
accelerate the systematic genocide of the Palestinians and Kashmiries by equating the wars of
 
liberation in the controlled territories of Palestine and Kashmir with terrorism.
 
It was because of the dual strategy of Bush through war on terror, and on the other side, response
 
of Al-Qaeda militants by clandestine terror attacks, as shown through a number of the past
suicidal missions such as on Indonesian resort island of Bali, Saudi Arabia, Spain etc., and a
 
series of bomb attacks on London’s transport network, including those ones in other Afro-Asian
 
countries have clearly pointed out that Al-Qaeda was organized on world level. But, the outfit
 
lost control on its affiliated militant groups. Al-Qaeda’s decimated old guard may no longer be
 
able to mount elaborately detailed plots, executed by other trained terrorists of various new
 
groups which claim their links with Al-Qaeda, but, are not under its direct command. For
 
example, in Somalia—splitting away of a hardliner-faction Al-Shabaab is an offshoot of the
 
Islamic Courts Union, though the US defined Al-Shabaab as Al-Qaida allies.
 
In this connection, about the two bombs which blew the 18-story headquarters of the British-
 
owned HSBC bank and the British consulate in Istanbul in November, 2003, Turkish officials
 
had remarked that these were the work of homegrown extremists.
 
In March 2004, the former CIA Director, George Tenet said, “Al-Qaeda has become a loose
 
collection of regional networks working autonomously-[they] pick their own targets, they plan
 
their own attacks…in this new phase of franchise terrorism, Al-Qaeda has been described as an
 
idea rather than an organization.”
 
Notably, President Obama who had stated during his first election, “Bush has made the world the
 
most dangerous place”, and he would rectify the blunders, committed by his predecessor in the
 
name of war on terror—continued the same in their worst form. However, Obama-led
 
Administration went on with various techniques of ruthless terror and extrajudicial killings of the
 
innocent persons through illegitimate drone attacks—assisting undemocratic forces, toppling the
 
elected government in Egypt, and like Iraq, creation of more collapsed states such as Libya,
 
Yemen, Syria etc., and covert assistance to Israel.
 
If the double game of President Bush (The Senior) and George W. Bush franchised Al-Qaeda on
 
global level, President Obama’s dual policy franchised both Al-Qaeda and ISIS as part of the
 
anti-Muslim campaign and left no stone unturned in advancing the agenda of the Zionists, Israeli
 
lobbies and the neoconservatives in the pretext of global war on terror. Secretly, Obama
 
authorized CIA to create ISIS. His perennial covert support to the Israeli atrocities on the
 
Palestinians, silence over the supply (Smuggling) of oil by ISIS to some European countries
 
whose governments have also not taken action against those companies which are exporting oil
 
from the ISIS-controlled regions of Iraq, CIA-assisted Al-Qaeda (Al-Nusra Front) and ISIS
 
militants, continued sectarian violence and prolonged engagement of its troops (NATO) in
 
Afghanistan might be cited as instance. Moreover, the Middle East was deliberately thrown in
 
worst form of terrorism and civil wars for achieving the goal of a greater Israel.
 
The terrorist acts of both Al-Qaeda and ISIS have been utilized by Obama in distorting the image
 
of Islam and Jihad so as to pacify American public in wake of multiple internal and external
 
problems like heavy cost of prolonged ‘different war’, financial crisis, demoralization of troops
 
in Afghanistan etc.  
 
President Obama’s deliberate contradictory approach could also be judged from the fact that on
 
February 3, this year, during his first visit to a US mosque, he condemned inexcusable political
 
rhetoric against Muslim-Americans, and said, “So often, Muslim Americans are targeted and
 
blamed for the acts of a few.”
 
In the recent past, some developments like Russian successful airstrikes on the ISIS targets in the
 
northern Syria—its coalition with Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon-based Hezbollah in support of
 
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, retreat of the CIA-supported rebels and mercenaries after their
 
failure to topple his government, proving links of Al-Qaeda and ISIS with America and Israeli,
 
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s clear-cut statement, indicating the Zionist regime in the US
 
and  Israel for their “fake war on ISIL”, and remarking, “NWO (New World Order) agents and
 
Satan worshipers simply have no clothes,” including the first Vienna meeting on Syrian crisis,
 
where the US Secretary of State John Kerry agreed to keep the Syrian president in power
 
(Contrary to previous demand of regime change), for a unified state of Syria, not to allow ISIL
 
militant group to reign in Syria, and America’s decision of  sending 50 special forces to Syria
 
to help in taking down ISIS terrorists have clearly exposed hidden aims of the US global war on
 
terror which is based upon dual policy towards ISIS.
 
In these circumstances, as part of the Zionist conspiracy against the West, Muslims and the
 
patriot Americans, Israeli Secret agency Mossad utilized the services of ISIS terrorists in
 
arranging the November 13 terror attacks in Paris. In the post-Paris attacks, by producing anti-
 
Muslim phenomena like the propaganda of the so-called threat of Islamophobia, persecution of
 
the Muslims in the US, Europe and some other western countries, Israel-led America also got the
 
assistance of its western allies (NATO) against Russia. Now, as part of their ambivalent
 
approach, American jet fighters and those of its western coalition are targeting the ISIS terrorists
 
in Iraq and Syria.
 
Besides, in wake of the presidential election-campaign, ordinary Americans are focusing on
 
internal problems which are the result of prolonged war on terror. Patriot Americans are openly
 
criticizing the Zionist-protected policies of the US. Taking cognizance, Obama has asked Turkey
 
to withdraw its forces from Iraq’s territories. In the recent past, John Kerry gave ultimatum to the
 
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to agree for the two-state solution of the Palestinian dispute. 
 
Meanwhile, some recent developments have further exposed the dual strategy of the US-led
 
west.    The Russia-led coalition which have successfully been achieving its objectives have
 
broken the backbone of the ISIS terrorists, Al-Qaeda’s Al-Nusra Front and the rebels who have
 
vacated most of the areas of Syria and Iraq. On February 3, this year, Syrian troops backed by
 
Russian warplanes cut the last supply route, linking rebels and ISIS militants in Aleppo city.
 
Aleppo is near the Turkish border from where with the backing of the US-led west (Especially,
 
UK and France), Turkey has also been supporting the rebels and ISIS terrorists, while Saudi
 
Arabia and some other Gulf countries like Qatar are funding them to oust the Assad’s regime.
 
It is of particular attention that the representatives of the rebels had refused to participate in the
 
recently-held Geneva peace talks (Held on February 1) by demanding that first Russia should
 
stop airstrikes. When John Kerry insisted them to “seize the opportunity” to participate in UN-
 
backed peace talks on Syria, they agreed to participate. It has clearly exposed America’s dual
 
Taking note of the weak position of the ISIS militants and rebels who received a greater blow,
 
their representatives in Geneva who first time participated in talks, demanded that Russia-led
 
coalition should stop siege of Aleppo city for the success of negotiations. The UN has suspended
 
peace talks, and now would resume on February 25.
 
As part of the double game, America and its allies, particularly France have held Russia and
 
Syrian President Assad responsible for the suspension of Geneva peace talks.
 
It is worth-mentioning that CIA-Mossad-backed ISIS commanders who are fleeing Iraq and
 
Syria are taking shelter in Libya. In this context, on February 3, 2016, BBC pointed out, “Senior
 
commanders from so-called Islamic State (IS) have moved to Libya from Iraq and Syria
 
On the one side, on February 4, this year, a donor conference held in London where the world’s
 
rich countries, particularly Germany, Britain, the US and EU pledged billions of dollars to help
 
Syrian refugees, scattered around the world, and especially those who have taken shelter in
 
Europe, while on the other, they are still backing the rebels and ISIS terrorists, and are also
 
targeting them through areal strikes.
 
Now, taking cognizance of the weak leverage of bargaining of the US-led western countries on
 
Syrian question, some countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israeli are encouraging the ISIS
 
militants to continue terror attacks on the Shias and in Syria. Besides previous similar assaults in
 
Syria, ISIS claimed responsibility for a triple bombing which killed 45 people near a Shia shrine
 
in Damascus, on January 31, 2015.
 
As regards manipulation of the Syrian crisis, notably, on February 1, this year, the Russian
 
Defense Ministry has presented video evidence which shows Turkish military shelling on the
 
Syrian territory.
 
While, in case of Afghanistan, there are several groups of Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Taliban like the
 
Afghan-based Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Some of them are being used by secret
 
agencies like CIA, Israeli Mossad and Indian RAW to obtain the collective and individual
 
designs of their countries against Pakistan and Middle Eastern countries. India and Israel which
 
want to prolong the stay of the US-led NATO troops in Afghanistan which have become the
 
center of covert activities, are exploiting their dual policy, particularly of America against
 
Pakistan, China and Iran. Terrorists of TTP and ISIS which are strategic assets of the CIA have
 
claimed responsibility for several terror attacks inside Pakistan, including at Charsadda’s
 
university of Pakistan and recent ones in Afghanistan.
 
By utilizing the vicious circle of terrorism and the dual policy of America, some western
 
countries, Israel and India, Al-Qaeda, ISIS and TTP also employ double game. Besides working
 
for CIA, Mossad and RAW, these militant outfits also motivate the common Muslims for suicide
 
attacks and terror-related activities as part of Jihad. Otherwise, Jihad does not permit suicide
 
attacks. Like other religions, Islam is a religion of peace and prohibits any sort of terrorism.
 
Iraq-based ISIS which itself broke away from Al-Qaeda, proclaimed a worldwide caliphate by its
 
leader Abu Baker al-Baghdadi, on 29 June 2014. ISIS’s criminal actions had widely been
 
criticized in the world, with many Islamic communities judging the group to be unrepresentative
 
of Islam. One of ISIS’s goals has been to establish a radical Sunni Islamic state in Iraq, Syria,
 
Jordan, Palestine etc. (Levant region). It has been used by the US and Israel for distorting the
 
image of Islam and for inciting the feelings of western Christians and Kurds against Muslims.
 
For the purpose, like Al-Qaeda, it is widely known for its violent acts and propaganda which
 
includes Internet videos of beheadings etc. However, besides some Islamic countries, a majority
 
of the religious extremists (Muslims) from the western world joined the ISIS. In this context,
 
oblivion on the part of the west about ISIS recruits from their countries is questionable.
 
Saudi Arabian rulers who have already been funding the ISIS against Iran and Syria, have been
 
fighting for survival of their kingship. In accordance with Israel-led American secret strategy,
 
Saudi Arabia has chosen the path of leading unrest in the Middle East by promoting sectarian
 
violence. Notably, the US decided to revive the phony war on terror through Saudi Arabia.
 
American President Obama knew that much resentment is found in the Muslim countries against
 
the US and Israel. Therefore, he directed Saudi Arabia to form an alliance of the Sunni countries
 
to wage a war against the ISIS. On December 15, 2015, Riyadh which also wanted to protect its
 
monarchy in the pretext of fighting the ISIS terrorists, announced a 34-state Sunni-based military
 
alliance. Washington immediately welcomed the alliance.
 
It is noteworthy that like the drastic aftermath of 9/11 tragedy, rulers and politicians of the US-
 
led western countries, especially of Europe are again misguiding their general public by creating
 
chauvinism against the Muslim World by exploiting the critical situation, after the Paris disaster
 
and the shooting at San Bernardino, California. In fact, fault cannot be laid on the ordinary
 
citizens who are swayed by stereotypes and prejudices created by the political leaders who keep
 
on manipulating any crisis for their own self-interests with the sole aim of getting their
 
sympathies to increase their vote bank. There are equal strong pressures from religious and
 
nationalist forces in wake of global war on terror which are dividing the world on religious lines.
 
As regards the anti-Muslim policy, on January 18, 2015, British Prime Minister David Cameron
 
announced that Muslim women who fail to learn English to a high enough standard could face
 
deportation from Britain. He also suggested that poor English skills can leave people “more
 
susceptible to the messages of groups like Islamic State (IS).”
 
Cameroon was quickly criticized by Andy Burnham, the shadow home secretary, Sayeeda Warsi,
 
the Tory peer and former party co-chairman for singling out Muslim women as the main group.
 
They said, “His clumsy approach to challenging extremism is unfairly stigmatising a whole
 
community…evidence suggests [Racial] gang culture, Islamophobia, [and] responses to foreign
 
policy are greater drivers of radicalisation” than failure to learn English.”
 
Earlier, Donald Trump, the leading contender to become the Republican Party’s nominee
 
for US presidential candidate had called for a ban on Muslims, entering the United States in
 
response to the San Bernardino shooting.
 
In the past few days, tensions over Europe’s migrant crisis led to violence in Sweden and the
 
UK, with a masked mob calling for attacks on foreigners in Stockholm, and nearly 100 men
 
gathered on January 29, resulted into clashes between pro-and anti-migrant demonstrators in the
 
British town of Dover.
 
And under the threat of ISIS, especially European governments and EU have been expelling the
 
immigrants from their countries, while discouraging more Syrian refugees. On the other side,
 
they are also trying to resolve the Syrian crisis. However, it shows contradictory policy.
 
On January 25, 2016, The EU’s law enforcement agency Europol revealed that ISIS have set up
 
special forces style training camps in Europe, as they plot mass casualty civilian strikes on the
 
Nevertheless, it is due to the dual policy of the US-led western world that ISIS which is most
 
dangerous terrorist group than Al-Qaeda is rapidly spreading its tentacles to all over the world.
 
On January 14, 2015, multiple blasts and gunfire killed seven people and jolted the Indonesian
 
capital Jakarta. The ISIS claimed responsibility. The Indonesian investigative agency disclosed
 
that the ISIS carried out the attacks with the help of home-grown terrorists. On October 4, 2015,
 
ISIS-affiliated militant outfit Boko Haram claims responsibility for Nigeria’s deadly suicide
 
bombings which killed 18 people on October 4.
 
Despite widespread protests across the country in recent days, the French government confirmed
 
on February 3 that it would seek a three-month extension of the state of emergency it declared
 
after the Paris attacks. It indicates that if ISIS conducts more terror attacks in France and other
 
European countries, they would move towards autocracy.
 
Nonetheless, either Muslims are being massacred by terrorist groups in Syria, Iraq and Pakistan
 
or Christians in Nigeria or anywhere—or they are targeted by racialists, all these acts are
 
strongly condemnable, as they are all human beings. Hence, instead of pursuing dual strategy
 
about ISIS which is proving extremely counterproductive, the US and its allies must better agree
 
for an international coalition to fight this militant outfit and Al-Qaeda.
 
In this regard, President Putin has said on January 11, 2015, “The West of exacerbating
 
international crises that had contributed to it…we are faced with common threats, and we still
 
want all countries, both in Europe and the whole world, to join their efforts to combat these
 
If dual policy towards Al-Qaeda and especially ISIS continues by the US-led western countries,
 
it will create chaos in the Middle East, enveloping the entire world, and may culminate into
 
“Clash of Civilizations.” Any major war or such a clash will take the US and Europe to the
 
era—from 1511 to 1648 when Europe witnessed a prolonged arena of barbarism, religious
 
bigotry and intolerance, resulting into beastly violence. 
 
Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants,
 
Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations
 
 
Courtesy: The Veterans Today

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Mike Stathis, Veterans Today : Critical Lessons from the Facebook Scam: A Blast from the Past

Critical Lessons from the Facebook Scam: A Blast from the Past 

by 

Mike Stathis

 

The Facebook pump-and-dump scam has played out just as I predicted. After only a couple of months, naive shareholders who fell for this scam have already lost nearly $45 billion as the result of a collapse in the share price of more than 50% from the IPO high of $45.

But this $45 billion hasn’t been a loss for those on the other side of the trade.

Short sellers aside, the fact is that the Facebook scam has created several billionaires overnight, namely the executives of Facebook, not to mention the huge payday for the private equity and venture capital funds which capitalized on the pump-and-dump scam orchestrated by both the financial industry and the media.

And who do you think purchased the vast majority of shares?

Fund managers of course; mainly mutual fund and pension fund managers.

Now who do you think manages most of these funds? Are they gentiles? Wrong.

Jewish fund managers used the money of gentiles to purchase these ridiculously overvalued shares.

Thus, it should be apparent after you connect the dots what has happened. It was blatantly obvious to me what was going on and what the end result would be.

Several months ago I published a 5-part series on Facebook exposing virtually every aspect of the company, social media and the pump-and-dump scheme. This publication was an aftershoot of one I had published a year earlier.

Although this previous publication was referenced in the 5-part series, many readers probably didn’t bother to read it because they did not realize the relevance at the time.

Therefore, I will republish this article here for the purpose of demonstrating that all that has occurred thus far with Facebook was all too obvious.

Perhaps after reading this shorter, more focused piece, you will become more knowledgeable about Wall Street, the IPO process and pump-and-dump schemes that are a common practice.

After you read this article, I highly recommend that you read the 5-part series on Facebook (Part 1   Part 2  Part 3   Part 4   Part 5) because it contains additional critically important points that all users of Facebook should be aware of. As well, it contains some very valuable lessons about the investment process that I can guarantee you will not see, hear or read about elsewhere.

 

Goldman Sachs And The Facebook Pump And Dump

 

Originally published by AVA Investment Analytics on January 11, 2011

 

With a good deal of help from traditional media, the social media fad has grown into a worldwide phenomenon for millions who seem to have too much time on their hands. Many claim

they use these sites to keep up with friends and relatives. But level-headed individuals use more direct means to keep up with loved ones. Many others are looking for love, or just an easy way to get sex, from whatever form it may come.

Others claim to use these sites for “networking.” To those of you who insist these sites help advance your business or job prospects, I say this. Get up off of your ass and make something happen yourself instead of looking for easy ways to succeed, because success has no shortcuts.

The social media fad is not much different than its trash TV counterpart, which features episodes from the lives of dysfunctional individuals. Some are faced with the challenges of losing weight. Others are plain idiots who provide you with a look into their superficial, often pathetic and always trivial lives. Either way, many people have become fixated on the lives of others because they are unable to recognize the value in their own lives. I suppose for some, seeing how miserable others are makes one feel better about themselves.

When people aren’t glued to their TV sets watching the endless trash and censored media, many are engaged with their electronic devices. For many, a good part of that time is wasted on social media sites.

For a couple of years now, many have speculated about the timing of Facebook’s public offering. Over this relatively short time span, the amount of press the company has received has been reminiscent of the dotcom days.

As a part of this speculation, a couple of years ago Facebook was valued at around $5 billion. Back then, a few chumps even claimed it was worth $15 billion, despite the fact that they had no experience or training in valuation analysis. Last year Facebook was valued at anywhere from $12 to $20 billion, depending on which paid clown you asked. Today, the valuations typically exceed $20 billion.

There have been all kinds of metrics used to value Facebook; number of subscribers, subscriber growth, time spent on the site per subscriber per unit time, page views, average revenue per subscriber, and so on.

Let’s have a look at one of the more commonly used valuation metrics; average revenue per subscriber. In 2010 Facebook generated an estimated $490 million in profits from total revenues of $1.5 billion (unofficial numbers). Based on these numbers, I can only see how a fool or crook might argue the company is worth $20 billion. What I would like see are the business risk and growth rate estimations.

You see, there are two types of valuations to consider. First, there’s the valuation based on what an individual would pay for a business. Let’s call this the buyer’s valuation. This valuation is usually much more credible because the buyer actually uses his own money, or else he must obtain financing from a bank. If the buyer is a savvy business man he is going to account for all risks involved before forking over this kind of money (if he intends on keeping the business long-term). If a commercial bank is involved in financing the deal, you can bet the bankers are going to go over every detail with a fine-toothed comb, looking for signs of risk.

Next, there’s the valuation based on how much the business owner can inflate the sales price. I will call this the seller’s valuation. Usually, when the buyer plans on keeping the business

there is a back and forth struggle for final valuation between buyer and seller. But when the buyer is an investment bank the valuation is based largely on how much they think they can flip it to others for in a public offering. So in this later case the company only receives seller’s valuation because the buyers aren’t involved in the valuation process.

Thus, as you can imagine when Wall Street gets involved in the IPO game, many stocks collapse within a couple of years of their IPO price.

Most venture capital firms play the same game, especially if their investment occurs towards the later stages because this means an IPO (which represents a means of exit) is more likely. In short,venture firms involved in late-stage financing deals act no different than Wall Street investment banking firms when it comes to inflated valuations.

In the past, I stated that Facebook was worth maybe a few hundred million dollars. However, this was a rough estimate not based on specific revenue and income data. Based on these latest estimates, I would value Facebook at no more than $1.5 billion, assuming I would even buy this questionable business.

Some of you might be thinking at that price Facebook would be a steal, right? After all, assuming things go reasonably well, the profits should be able to pay for the sales price plus financing costs within three years, or maybe four or five at if the company hits a few road bumps, right?

The problem is that this estimated return on investment has not accounted for some of the more critical types of risk involved, nor has it accounted for other important considerations, such as the value of Facebook’s assets, or rather lack thereof.

For instance, if I decided to buy a small chemical company, say a mini-Dow Chemical for $1.5 billion (forget that it is likely to have net debt) it wouldn’t face the risk of business failure anytime soon unless a catastrophic event occurred (like a Union Carbide-like disaster). While earnings would plummet after such an unlikely event, the fact is that the company would still retain a net worth due to its valuable asset base and intellectual property portfolio.

Thus, if I bought this chemical company I would be receiving tangible assets with a sizable value, in addition to any earnings these assets generated. As a result, I could sell off some of the business units and recoup at least part of my initial investment if the business was jeopardized. Moreover, the assets are tangible, so they are less risky because the depreciation and appreciation of these assets are more easily predicted. These are just a couple of important considerations that must be taken into account during the valuation process.

Facebook is an entirely different beast. It has very little intellectual property, or the intellectual property is not particularly valuable (despite what management may claim). And it certainly doesn’t have many tangible assets. In fact, the most valuable asset Facebook has is not only intangible, but it is not owned by the company. That asset is the key driver of Facebook’s success, and it could disappear in a relatively short time span. That asset is the buzz for Facebook. It’s been responsible for adding the vast majority of users.

As a result of the buzz, Facebook’s earnings are only based on the size and strength of its user base. But that could change at any time since the company does not offer any uniquely valuable goods or services. As a result, there is a great deal of risk involved in purchasing the company for anything more than $1.5 billion if the intent is to use it as a standalone business. If acquired by a large diversified firm, I would say the valuation could be considerably higher, but nowhere near say $8 billion.

It’s crucial to consider business risk and the size of the asset base when assessing valuation of a privately-held, relatively new firm within a relatively new sector. New companies face a great deal of business risk. And new companies within new industries face an even greater deal of risk. In addition, when estimating the valuation of Facebook, it’s important to keep in mind that it has no real competitive advantage. Thus, the ability of competitors to steal market share presents a huge risk.

Websites like Amazon are much different because it has developed several competitive advantages. In addition, as an e-commerce company it sells tangible goods and services that are needed by consumers and businesses. Amazon has also created and acquired a good deal of assets, both tangible and intangible. Finally, Amazon is a well-established company and has demonstrated a proven ability to overcome numerous challenges through the brilliant leadership of Jeff Bezos.

Facebook is much different. Although the site has opened its door to allow app developers and encouraged content-sharing by users, advertising is likely to become the dominant driver of revenues in the future. The problem with this is that the traditional advertising model has proven to be relatively ineffective when transposed onto the Internet.

As Facebook continues to explore new ways of incorporating ads into its platform, it has introduced new terms of service resulting in widespread protest from many users. This in itself adds a good deal of risk, for if Facebook upsets a critical mass of users, it faces the risk of a cascade effect. Thus far, users have won nearly every case that they have protested, forcing Facebook to remove new changes to the Terms of Service and other changes to functionality that address privacy concerns.

Facebook continues to struggle to strike a balance between pleasing firms that shell out money for ads, and users who don’t want their information made public. As a part of this struggle, there has even been discussion (rumor) of a monthly user fee for use of the site, although I cannot confirm whether or not this came from management (unlikely). A subscriber-based revenue model would most likely sink the business quickly.

As more investment capital floods into the company, pressure will grow to generate more revenues. Thus, in absence of value-added applications the advertising side of the business will be placed at the center of focus. This means further intrusion of user information will be inevitable.

One of the most vulnerable aspects of social media is that it is fueled exclusively by buzz. When the buzz is strong, social media platforms can generate a huge amount of traffic. But when the buzz fades, the traffic can shrink rapidly. As a result, without valuable content and in-demand and valuable applications, social media firms face an all-or-none situation. Thus, Facebook faces the challenge of pleasing its users (or deceiving them) over its ad sponsors until it is able to bring real value to the table.

For anyone who expects long-term earnings growth from a social media website that offers primitive yet very expensive games and other useless applications, I have some beach front property in Dallas, Texas I’d like to sell you. In short, Facebook has a long way to go if it plans to continue the kind of growth that can justify a multibillion dollar valuation. Anyone who does not realize that doesn’t recall the ridiculous valuations given to hundreds of useless companies during the dotcom bubble.

Until management finds new ways to add valuable content, it will need to design better ways of balancing user satisfaction and privacy of personal information with ad effectiveness. Ultimately, all media companies should focus on providing valuable content. This is something the media has failed to recognize. Instead, the industry continues to focus on the volume of content, all while pleasing its ad sponsors. In the end, the audience receives useless, deceptive content. This is specifically why the media is facing numerous bankruptcies.

Moving forward, Facebook will be in a much better position to transition away from its current status as a novelty site because of the large amount of financing it has been able to attract. However, such a transition will not be easy. Just ask Yahoo! Although Yahoo! focused early on by providing free content, much of which had some value, today the company remains in a downward spiral. The content has become almost completely useless. Yahoo! is now geared towards ad sponsors rather than users, and the results show.

But none of these concerns matter much to the financiers of Facebook because they don’t plan to take a long-term stake in the firm. Rather, they plan to pump it up and dump it off to the pigeons. Thus, they have attached a sellers’ valuation to the company.

Goldman Sachs recently got its fangs around Facebook after providing the company with a $450  million investment stake. Goldman is now floating a $1.5 billion private placement memorandum to its clients to ensure the bank gets a great exit with no further risk. The deal terms value Facebook at an astonishing $50 billion.

This incredibly ridiculous valuation means that Facebook is worth more than Eli Lilly ($38.6 billion market cap), Bristol-Myers ($44.2 billion market cap), Unitedhealth ($42.2 billion market cap), Dow Chemical ($41 billion market cap), Dell Computers ($27.5 billion market cap), Research In Motion ($32 billion market cap), Starbucks ($24 billion market cap), and so on.

Certainly one cannot make a one-for-one comparison between Facebook and companies from other industries. But this very crude comparison gives you an idea how ridiculous

Goldman’s valuation is. If you examine companies from a similar space, like Yahoo!, eBay and Amazon, they too are a good deal overvalued, especially Amazon. But at least they have been around for a while, they sell goods and services consumers want and often need, and they have come down from their dotcom bubble days.

In order for Facebook to secure a long and profitable future, it must find ways to generate predictable revenue and income growth. As well, the valuation needs to come back down to earth.History tells us that Facebook’s valuation bubble is likely to burst only after it has exchanged hands from the venture industry and Wall Street, to Main Street.

A few years ago when the same buzz was being spread about MySpace, Rupert Murdoch shelled out nearly $600 million for the site. At the time, I stated this was a terrible purchase. But when you as desperate as Rupert Murdoch was, you will do many things.

At the time, Murdoch’s media empire was collapsing, not due to a bad economy, but due to the fact that more people have come to realize that the media serves the interests of corporations and Wall Street. Since Murdoch’s purchase of MySpace, things haven’t gotten much better for him, or any of the other media moguls for that matter. Meanwhile, MySpace continues to crumble, as reality sets in.

I would like to know if Murdoch would have paid out $600 million of his own money for Myspace. It’s easy to toss money around when it’s not coming from your own pocket. Yet, News Corporation shareholders sat around like fools and said nothing after the deal was announced. Many even celebrated the deal as a win.

This example illustrates why most people should never invest in securities. They don’t have an understanding of the valuation process, they don’t understand how venture firms or Wall Street banking departments work, and they aren’t able to get in when valuations are cheap. Instead they make the mistake of listening to the hype and propaganda delivered by Wall Street and its partner in crime, the financial media. This is how the game works.

Yet, after losing tremendous amounts of money when bubbles pop or other scams occur, most people keep coming back for more, hoping to strike it rich. Much of this mentality is

created by the financial media and online brokerage commercials, which always deliver the message that it’s easy to make money in the stock market or that they can help you do well in the stock market by steering you to false epiphanies, like stock screening tools and research written by pinheads.

When Murdoch announced the intent of News Corporation to purchase MySpace, I was certain the buzz would wind down in a couple of years and be replaced by another social media website, and it was. As we look forward, it is likely that Facebook too will face a similar situation as MySpace with a few caveats.

Due to its tremendous financing, Facebook will stick around a lot longer than MySpace. However, I can tell you this much with complete confidence. Facebook is being pumped up in order to dump it onto naïve investors. And it’s likely to lead to a disaster.

I consider what Goldman is doing to be securities fraud; another routine business deal for the firm.

Goldman’s investment in Facebook as well as its private placement to its clients also increases the likelihood that we will see a Facebook IPO over the next couple of years. The reason is simple. Goldman wants to secure a nice exit from its investment. And it’s using its own clients to secure a huge risk-free return.

The unfortunate reality is that once Facebook goes public, shareholders will be stuck with a ridiculously overvalued dotcom. While the publicly traded shares are likely to show some hysteria-like appreciation, it isn’t likely to last.

Based on my knowledge of the valuation process and understanding of how private shares are priced for public offerings, Goldman appears to be working with venture capital and Wall

Street firms to pump up the valuation so they can dump shares onto naïve and greedy investors. These two characteristics almost always lead to a disastrous outcome. It’s time for the SEC to get involved before the thieves steal even more money using propaganda and their pull with the financial media to carry out this scam.

You aren’t likely to hear anyone else from Wall Street or the venture capital industry mention the Facebook bubble.

You are especially unlikely to hear industry professionals discuss the intent of Goldman to dump shares onto naïve investors because most of these guys are all the same. If they are not directly involved with the scam, they certainly don’t want to expose what is going on because the pump-and-dump game is very common. And the next deal might involve them doing the same thing with another company.

The last time a large scale pump-and-dump of this nature occurred was during the late 1990s. As we know, this led to the dotcom bubble. At the height of the bubble, Yahoo! had a market cap of more than $150 billion (compared to $22 billion today). Murdoch’s deal with Myspace looked like a great buy when compared to some of the buyouts during the dotcom era, like @Home’s purchase of Excite for $8 billion, or Terra’s purchase of Lycos for $13 billion.

Thus, when viewed from the dotcom perspective, Goldman’s $50 billion valuation for Facebook might seem reasonable to those who believe that bubbles never burst. The problem is that

the worst time to buy is during the peak of a bubble.It appears as if Goldman is creating a bubble in social media. And by the time it pops, you can bet they will have exited with huge gains.

You should note that Excite and Lycos are worth practically nothing today. This is likely to be the fate of Myspace down the road.

We see many similarities between the dotcom bubble and the most recent real estate-credit bubble.

After hundreds of dotcoms and telecoms committed accounting and securities fraud resulting in trillions of dollars in losses to shareholders, not one single individual went to prison; not one company executive, not one Wall Street analyst.

We are seeing the same thing today, as not one Wall Street executive has been indicted for securities fraud that led to the global economic collapse. Not one executive from credit rating agencies has been indicted, nor have any of the executives of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Goldman even struck a very sweet deal with the SEC to avoid criminal indictments by the Department of Justice. So if you think the SEC will stop Goldman from pumping and dumping Facebook, I wouldn’t hold my breath. The problem is that we have a fox guarding the hen house. This precisely why fraud has become synonymous with Wall Street.

Even without the assistance from the SEC and other financial regulators, Wall Street could not achieve much of its fraud without the help of others. The media is a principal partner in

the game of Wall Street fraud. But individual investors are also key participants. Without the greed and ignorance of Main Street, Wall Street would have a much more difficult time carrying out its fraudulent activities. Although many investors might agree that Facebook has become extremely overvalued, they are likely to try to ride it all the way up and dump their shares before it comes tumbling down; if it were only so easy.

Once people realize social networking sites are really a new form of media disguised as free resources (i.e. social media) they just might recognize these sites are being dishonest because using them comes in exchange for something. That something generates money. And they aren’t about to tell you exactly how they plan to leverage your information and your personal habits, or what could be argued as tapping into your mind to generate revenues.

On a positive note for Facebook and all other social media, with each passing day more people are becoming naïve, lazy and stupid. So they are not likely to wake up to the fact that they are being exposed to more harm than benefit by use of these sites. Thus, another chapter is likely to be written in the book of Wall Street fraud and investor losses.

Reference

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Freedom of speech, or Hypocrisy? Mockery of Prophet(PBUH) is Press Freedom but Cartoon of Benjamin Netanyahu is Blasphemy

The CARTOON IN SUNDAY TIMES which is causing World wide Controversy;

 
Zionists Power in Press 
 
  Cartoon about Benamin Natanyahu ( Israeli Prime Minister )  showing him  ” Building a Brick Wall using the Blood & Limbs of the Palestinians.”
 
This cartoon below , which was published in the  SUNDAY TIMES of 27th January 2013 ( Holocaust Memorial Day ), has caused a tremendous World Wide controversy and has been taken off  the Website by Sunday Times. The Owner  of News International ( of which Sunday Times is  a part ) , the famous  RUPERT MURDOCH, has apologised to the jewish people and the cartoon Creator , Gerald Scarfe has been made to express his “regret.”!
 
  I took this page from the actual paper edition of the Sunday Times . I subscribe to this newspaper , for my I-Pad,  As I  could not get this cartoon on my I-Pad , I phoned the Newspaper Offices in London this afternoon to find out the reason and was told  ; ” it has  been taken off the Website because of the Controversy generated all over the World.”
 
 After the jewish newspapers  complained to the Press Complaints Commission  of UK  about ANTI-SEMITISM , Rupert Murdoch in his apology  called the cartoon as ” GROTESQUELY  OFFENSIVE ”  &  has offered his profuse apology .
 
                              
                                                         

Netanyahu cartoon sparks anger, Murdoch says sorry

News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch said cartoonist Gerald Scarfe had

News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch said cartoonist Gerald Scarfe had “never reflected the opinions of the Sun
day Times.”

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch has apologized for “grotesque” cartoon
  • Sunday Times cartoon portrayed Netanyahu building Palestinians into bloody wall
  • Cartoon prompted accusations of anti-Semitism and references to ‘blood libel’
  • Cartoonist said he was not aware it was Holocaust Memorial Day

London (CNN) — Rupert Murdoch has apologized for a “grotesque, offensive” cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published in Britain’s Sunday Times.

The cartoon by Gerald Scarfe depicts Netanyahu atop an incomplete brick wall with screaming Palestinians and body parts in the mortar. Netanyahu is holding what appears to be a bloody builder’s trowel and the wall’s mortar is colored red. The wording beneath reads: “Israeli Elections, Will Cementing Peace Continue?”

The cartoon was published on Holocaust Memorial Day on Sunday and prompted complaints that it was anti-Semitic and insensitive.

Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, which owns The Sunday Times, used his Twitter feed to apologize, tweeting: “Gerald Scarfe has never reflected the opinions of the Sunday Times. Nevertheless, we owe major apology for grotesque, offensive cartoon.”

Scarfe, who has worked for the Sunday Times since 1967, is perhaps best-known for designing and directing the animation for the film of Pink Floyd’s The Wall.

Martin Ivens, the acting editor of the Sunday Times, also apologized, saying in a statement: “The last thing I or anyone connected with the Sunday Times would countenance would be insulting the memory of the Shoah [Holocaust] or invoking the blood libel.

I don’t think Scarfe is an idiot — far from it. So I find it impossible to believe he was unaware of the resonances of his cartoon
Stephen Pollard, Jewish Chronicle editor

“The paper has long written strongly in defense of Israel and its security concerns, as have I as a columnist. We are however reminded of the sensitivities in this area by the reaction to the cartoon and I will of course bear them very carefully in mind in future.” The weekday edition of The Times reported Tuesday that Ivens would meet representatives of the Jewish community to apologize.

In a statement posted on his website, Scarfe said: “First of all I am not, and never have been, anti-Semitic. The Sunday Times has given me the freedom of speech over the last 46 years to criticize world leaders for what I see as their wrong-doings.

“This drawing was a criticism of Netanyahu, and not of the Jewish people: there was no slight whatsoever intended against them. I was, however, stupidly completely unaware that it would be printed on Holocaust Day, and I apologize for the very unfortunate timing.”

In the Jewish Chronicle, editor Stephen Pollard wrote that the cartoon did “slip over the edge into anti-Semitism, because it invokes the blood libel.” Blood libel refers to a long-standing anti-Semitic myth that Jews murder children to use their blood in religious rituals.

“The blood libel is central to the history of anti-Semitism. I don’t think Scarfe is an idiot — far from it. So I find it impossible to believe he was unaware of the resonances of his cartoon,” Pollard said.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it had lodged a complaint with Britain’s press watchdog — the Press Complaints Commission.

The cartoon, it said, was “shockingly reminiscent of the blood libel imagery more usually found in parts of the virulently anti-Semitic Arab press. Its use is all the more disgusting on Holocaust Memorial Day, given the similar tropes leveled against Jews by the Nazis.”

Meanwhile, an article by Anshe Pfeffer in Israeli newspaper Haaretzbranded the cartoon “grossly offensive and unfair” but said it was not anti-Semitic. Pfeffner wrote that the cartoon was not directed at Jews, did not use Holocaust imagery and did not contain blood libel components.

He said there was no discrimination in the sense that Scarfe’s depiction of Netanyahu was “par for the course for any politician when Scarfe is at his drawing board.”

However, the Times of Israel quoted the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel Office — Efraim Zuroff — as saying the “anti-Semitic caricature of Netanyahu” was “absolutely disgusting.”

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